Location and Design

• The Anasazi built the majority of their cliff dwellings on sandstone ledges that faced the south to keep their shelters warm throughout the winter seasons. During the summer there was adequate shade from the top edge of the cliffs to keep the dwellings cool when the sun was at its highest point in the sky. The Anasazi grew their crops on raised mesas and canyons that were under the cliffs. It was a steep climb to gain access to the cliff dwellings that often began 75 feet up from the canyon floors.The Anasazi carved small ridges and holes to grip with their hands and feet to scale up and down the walls of the canyon. Occasionally, they would build rock bridges to help them travel across the dangerous terrain.
  
  

Mesa Verde Cliff Dwellings

• The largest cliff dwelling in North America is known as the Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde. Mesa Verde National park is located in southwestern Colorado. The park holds over 600 ancient Anasazi cliff dwellings and many are well preserved. The Anasazi lived in this area as early as A.D. 575, but the cliff dwellings were not built until the late 1200s. Cliff Palace had an estimated population of 225 residents that lived in 217 rooms and 23 kivas, which are a kind of ceremonial structure. The Anasazi people primarily built cliff dwellings during the 13th century, a period when two severe droughts affected the area where the sites were constructed. The Anasazi may have moved from the mesas into the cliffs to increase their available farming plots on the mesas. Balcony House is another well-known cliff dwelling in Mesa Verde. It was originally constructed in 1190 and abandoned in 1290. Balcony House sits 600 feet above the canyon floor
  
  

Other Notable Sites

• Keet Seel, which means "broken pottery," is the second-largest cliff dwelling. Built in 1272, it is also one of the oldest cliff dwellings. Originally this site housed 950 residents. In 1272 the dwelling was expanded to 160 rooms and 6 kivas. Betatakin, or "ledge house," is another famous site with over 135 rooms. The three-story Inscription House holds 80 rooms and a kiva.These sites are all located in northeastern Arizona on the Navajo Reservation's National Monument. The Anasazi people inhabited this area for a brief period between 1250 and 1300. There are more cliff dwelling sites at Canyon de Chelly on the Navajo Reservation where the Anasazi lived from 1100 to 1300.
  
  

Abandonment of the Dwellings

• The cliff dwellings were built and abandoned within a century. With the amount of labor that went into their construction, it is strange that the Anasazi would choose to abandon their elaborate cliff dwelling homes in such a short time frame.Many artifacts have been collected from these ancient ruins that suggest the Anasazi abandoned their villages quickly, leaving most of their everyday belongings behind. There is no explanation for this abandonment but it appears that the Anasazi evacuated to nearby villages along the Rio Grande and in Arizona and New Mexico as their genealogy has passed onto Native Americans who live in these areas. There are many speculated causes for the abandonment, but due to a lack of written details there is no standing evidence to provide a clear account of the events that led up to the evacuation.